The work to draft this legislation was guided by the motions passed by the House of Commons and the Senate, which clearly identified three key requirements for an integrated security force: first, that the RCMP lead operational security; second, that the privileges, immunities, and powers of the Houses be respected; and third, that the continued employment of existing and respected parliamentary security staff be ensured.

In terms of the first requirement, division 10 of part 3 proposes to amend the Parliament of Canada Act to create a statutory entity called the parliamentary protective service, which would be responsible for all matters relating to physical security throughout the parliamentary precinct and the grounds of Parliament Hill.

The bill states that the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker of the Senate “shall enter into an arrangement” with the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to have the RCMP “provide physical security services throughout the parliamentary precinct and Parliament Hill”, according to terms specified through this arrangement.

Under the joint general policy direction of the Speakers, a director of the parliamentary protective service will lead integrated security operations. This director would have the control and management of the service, would be a serving RCMP member, and would be selected through a process outlined in the arrangement. The director of the parliamentary protective service will lead RCMP members as well as current Senate protective services and House of Commons protective services members. The director will also be accountable to the Speaker for the management and performance of the parliamentary protective service.

The director will be accountable to the RCMP commissioner through the RCMP chain of command for ensuring that the RCMP meets its responsibilities according to the terms of service included in the arrangement, which is currently being negotiated by the Speakers and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. All RCMP members who serve in the public protection services, including the director, will continue to be employed by the RCMP.

The second requirement set out in the motion was that privileges, immunities, and powers of the respective Houses be respected. This legislation has been drafted so as to avoid limiting the powers, privileges, rights, and immunities of the Senate, the House of Commons, and their members, and to ensure that the bill does not conflict with the RCMP Act.

According to the bill, the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker of the Senate will be responsible for the parliamentary protective service, given their role as the custodians of the powers, privileges, rights, and immunities of their respective Houses and of the members of those Houses. It is through their roles as the custodians of parliamentary privilege, and as an exercise of those privileges, that the Speakers will enter into an arrangement to have the RCMP provide physical security services.

The RCMP and the House of Commons and Senate administrations are working collaboratively on transition planning right now, and while I can't speak to these details, I can say that upholding the rights of access and privilege traditionally enjoyed by parliamentarians will be a core objective of this work.

Lastly, the motion made a commitment to ensure the continued employment of the existing parliamentary security staff. As you will have seen, much of the bill is devoted to ensuring that these staff members will have employment stability and continuity. All staff currently employed within the Senate Protective Service and the House of Commons Protective Service will become employees of the Parliamentary Protective Service on the day on which these provisions come into force. The terms and conditions of their employment would not be changed by this legislation, all existing collective agreements would remain in force according to their own terms, and the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board will have jurisdiction to address concerns going forward.

Some committee members may question why a decision was taken to draft legislation in order to create the Parliamentary Protective Service. I would like to note that the parties saw two advantages to this course of action.

Firstly, creating the Parliamentary Protective Service in statute ensures that there would be one employer for all existing House of Commons and Senate security staff, which would facilitate the integration and operations of this new security service.

Secondly, establishing the Parliamentary Protective Service through legislation allows for the creation of a new, independent appropriations vote to fund it. The provision of a dedicated source of funding would help to ensure that the PPS maintains its institutional independence as an office of Parliament.

Before the start of each fiscal year, the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker of the Senate would instruct the director to prepare an estimate of the sums that would be required by the Parliamentary Protective Service for the coming year. The Speakers would provide these estimates to the President of the Treasury Board, who would table them in the House of Commons with the estimates of the government for the fiscal year.

In conclusion, while there are other steps to be taken before fully integrated security operations in the parliamentary precinct and the grounds of Parliament Hill are realized, this bill represents a necessary and significant step towards this goal.

Thank you for the opportunity to make these opening remarks. David and I will be pleased to answer your questions and to listen to your comments regarding the bill.

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